Clutch not fully disengaging

[chad951]

I have finally encounter a problem that has stumped me. My 2004 rsvr factory has seen around 18.5K of road miles and is running a 16x18 brembo billet clutch master, MPL billet slave cylinder, and a #40 oil jet. The set up has functioned very well for well over 8K miles. I recently switched out the clutch lever for the brembo folding version. I then took the bike on a 300+ mile ride and all seemed well. A day after the ride the clutch felt like it was disengaging really far out in the lever travel. I suspected a worn clutch so I pulled the clutch cover and checked everything out.

The clutch frictions and steels looked great to my surprise. The stack hight was about 47mm. I then checked the springs and found they were worn to 1mm below the minimum value at 43mm. I went ahead and installed a Barnett clutch kit. I used the first factory steel to being with. I put everything back together and ensured the clutch was bleed properly and discovered that the clutch would not disengage fully. In fact, once the bike was warm it was impossible to shift into any gear. At this point I thought the Barnett was the source of the new issues so I replaced the frictions and steels with my existing stock units. I then found that the bike behaved exactly the same. At this point I was puzzled.

Since my MPL billet slave has about 14K on it I thought maybe it's seal had given up. I swapped the MPL slave out for the stock unit along with a new seal. I made sure the system was bleed properly and to my surprise the bike still exhibited the same symptoms now with a slightly harder clutch pull.

Next, I thought maybe the folding lever was the incorrect part but after a bit of research I discovered there is only one folding lever offered by brembo for the billet units. Next, I thought I might have inadvertently screwed up some adjustment in the master cylinder during the lever swap. I have recently heard that the billet racing master cylinders do not have a free play adjustment so that can't be it. I was still stumped so I switch out he original clutch frictions and steels with everything that came in the Barnett kit. The stack hight is currently 46.6mm. The clutch still behaves exactly the same. At this point I am stumped. Is it possible the master cylinder has shot craps on me? I know the system is bleed properly so what else could cause the situation I am experiencing? Thanks in advance.

Chad

[EsotericRider]

Have you tried bleeding it? thats the problem I had. I have the same set up as you. Either crack the slave after the bike has warmed up and let it bleed a little or get a craftsman bleeder from sears for 60 dollars and get all the bubbles out.

[EsotericRider]

Also bleed from the brembo billet MC first

[chad951]

I am going to bleed the clutch system once again as my problem seems to be hydraulic. I have not other explaination for it. Neither my master cylinder nor either slave cylinder were leaking and nothing changed when I swapped slave cylinders. There must be air trapped in the system somewhere that is refusing to come out. I am leaning towards air trapped in my master cylinder as well. I have had the bike since new and have always bleed my own hydraulics and never had an issue such as this. I noticed I had given the wrong clutch spring measurement. Mine were worn to 43mm and not 39mm as I had previously listed. Anyway, I am also going to replace the first steel with the stock unit to give a bit more stack height when using the Barnett clutch kit. Minimum stack height, according to the workshop manual, is 46.3mm and I am at 46.6mm when using all Barnett steels. I may go back with the billet MPL slave cylinder since it has served me very well in the past and will certainly help reducde the strength of the lever pull.

[john in sweden]

Good dam it,,, i have the same problem,,, but on my falco,,, Have you solved the problem yet or are you still looking for source of error?

[theknurl]

the front seal in the M/C is leaking, or the lever is set too close to the bar

move the lever all the way out.....have any luck? no? its the M/C

if the front seal goes it leaks internally

[smx]

I had this issue as well, same bike. Noel's right you wont see any fuild leaking out it just passes by the seal and stays in the MC. Try holding the lever in for a few minutes and then let it back out. Now pull back in, does it feel dead or has no pressure? if so it is your MC seal.